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by Terry D. Anderson, Ph.D., Ken Keis, M.B.A.,

and Bruce Wares

SALESSTYLEINDICATOR

Identify your preferred selling style.Understand the various customer buyingstyles. Learn ways to immediately improveyour sales effectiveness and results withmore ease and confidence.

Name of Participant:Sample

Date of Assessment:2008-03-31

Published by Consulting Resource Group Canada: PO Box 418 Main, Abbotsford, BC V2S 5Z5 * USA: PO Box 8000 PMB 386, Sumas WA, 98295-8000

Website: www.crgleader.com

(c) 1990-2008, CRG Consulting Resource Group International, Inc. All rights reserved. This material is protected by law and may not be reproduced in any form.Printed from http://www.crgleader.com

2 of 23Online Sales Style Indicator (SSI) (c) 1990-2008 Consulting Resource Group

Sales Style of SampleEveryone is in sales! Sales success is not an accident.

The information contained in the Sales Style Indicator(SSI) and SSI In-Depth Interpretations and the complete sales training program/system/book, Why Don’t You SellThe Way That I Buy?TM will assist you and your team to increase your sales performance.

If used with other CRG resources, such as the Job Style Indicator and Values Preference Indicator, you will gain a significant competitive advantage.


What Is The Sales Style Indicator?

The Sales Style Indicator (SSI) is a professionally developed, learning and communication instrument.

The SSI can assist you to do the following:

Identify your basic Sales Style of responding to prospects, clients, and sales tasks

Gain self-understanding, self-acceptance, and greater understanding and acceptance of others

Identify the consequences and/or strengths of your selling style when relating withyour prospects and clients

Identify your typical reactions to sales stress and pressure and learn how to compensate for your weaknesses

Better understand the buying style tendencies of your client and learn to interact with them more effectively

Learn how to successfully and quickly build rapport with your clients, potential clients, and others

Increase harmony and productivity by sharing a common language when talking with others about the style behaviors that are more effective or productive in various sales situations

Determine your preferred selling style and work environment, to more intentionally select the best sales role, structure, and responsibilities for you

Gain an understanding of human behavior that you can use to ease tension and promote harmony in relationships with prospects and clients and in your interactions with your fellow workers

Develop a plan to increase your Sales Style flexibility and effectiveness during sales calls with prospects and clients and in your interactions with team members

Facilitate sales team development through the careful assessment of team-member strengths and weaknesses


Understanding Your Sales Style

We will get to your scores in a minute. First, let’s outline the Sales and Personality Development Factors. It will:

guide you to better understand your own and others’ tendenciesprovide increased clarity in both self-understanding and customer service relationships with otherspromote increased sales success

Sales style is only one part of your personality. We must acknowledge that human beings are more complex than just their Sales Style. Even though it is an important part of your personality, your Sales Style represents only one facet of you and your sales success.

To simplify and explain this complexity, CRG created the Sales and Personality Development Factors Model. (See illustration below.) At various levels, all these factors have and are contributing to your Sales Success and Development. Each factor is self-evident,except perhaps Emotional Anchors, where a past experience of a positive or negative nature stirs an emotional reaction within.

Want to learn more about the Sales and Personality Development Factors? Buy the book, Why Don't You Sell The Way That I Buy?TM available from CRG.

Factors that Influence Sales Development


STEP ONE

Understanding Sales Style

Many factors can determine your Sales Style and how much rigidity or flexibility you demonstrate. Your Sales Style is created by a complex set of behaviors and attitudes that strongly affect the way you manage tasks, solve problems, and present yourself to others. It is determined partly by your past experiences and opportunities and also by other aspects of your personality.

Research reveals you are born with a preferred Sales Style and that it is consistent throughout your lifetime. Your Sales Style is your natural

predisposition to perceive, approach, and interact with the environment- which includes time, people, tasks, and all sales situations.

Theory and research indicate that four main styles are useful in describing human behavior. Understanding these four styles will provide you with valuable insights. It is also important to understand how your Sales Style triggers much of your behavior and influences your sales choices and success.

Definition of a Successful Sales Professional

Successful sales professionals are defined in this instrument as people who— by means of vision, passion, and hard work—areable to intentionally build short- and long-term relationships with their clients and potential clients, while achieving sales results. Theword “success” also means the success of the client to reach his or her goals and objectives via the product and/or service you areoffering. Success is also based on the ethical behavior of the sales professional and team, within a culture of integrity, trust,respect, and credibility.

The SSI will assist you to assess the extent to which you have achieved this type of success. It will also provide you with an opportunity to clarify a powerful plan for developing this kind of "total sales success" with your clients and prospects, at personal, interpersonal, organizational, and business levels.


Sales Style: The Foundation of Your General Approach to Buyers

We all tend to view the world in our own personal ways. We each perceive, approach, and interact with our surroundings in aunique manner or Sales Style. Things you pay attention to, the way you decide to act, and the people you prefer to be with are allinfluenced by the way you are naturally predisposed to behave and sell. Your clients are no different in their uniqueness. The keyfor a sales professional is to know and understand your selling style and be equally aware of your clients’ buying styles.

Your basic Sales Style forms the foundation for your interpersonal interactions.

The way you see yourself (self-perception) influences how you act in all areas of your life. Your Sales Style directly affects your interpersonal communications and ultimately your sales success.

The Sales Style Indicatorprovides you with an organized view of how you perceive yourself and reveals the likely consequences of your Sales Style. As you become more keenly aware of those consequences, you can plan to develop greater style-flexibility to increase your sales effectiveness.

Your personal way of viewing the environment around you and reacting to it becomes the foundation upon which your Sales Style is built. Depending upon the roles in which you find yourself, you may develop interpersonal, counseling, decision-making, learning,sales, discovery, customer service, management, and leadership styles. The way you view yourself influences how you will act in all areas of life. Your Sales Style is one manifestation of the basic personal style that underlies all your behavior.

Sales Style behaviors vary somewhat from person to person and situation to situation. For the most part and for most people, they remain consistent over time.

The general pattern you exhibit is unique and distinct from the patterns of most other people. Gaining deeper understanding of the four Sales Style dimensions will assist you to appreciate the characteristics of other styles. You can apply this knowledge later, when you want to adjust your Sales Style to be more effective and to build credibility with your clients, potential clients, and team members.

Style-shifting is a critical skill that all sales professionals must develop to maximize their potential. You can learn to be more flexible and effective without being artificial or phony in the way you present yourself.

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If you want an understanding of how others perceive you—as a sales professional—ask them to complete an SSI for you!Over the years, we have found this a very insightful process. You can then compare the way you see yourself with the way others see you. This strategy is great for helping sales and interpersonal relationships, team-building, communications, leadership, client selection, and many other applications.

You may also complete the SSI for another person, to help you become more effective with him or her. Many sales managers have found this a very useful process for coaching, directing, and leading their sales teams.

Although the SSI should never replace getting to know someone else personally, it can help you frame a way to build credibility andawareness of others’ needs and help you plan your behavior and interactions with others.


Understanding the Four Sales Style Dimensions

Behavioral ACTION 35This Sales Style dimension has a strong tendency toward directly and forcefully persuading prospects and altering the sales environment in an effort to achieve well thought-out sales goals. Sales people who naturally operate mainly from this quadrant of Sales Style are likely to seem self-assured, aggressive, driven, and many times oblivious to their prospect's feelings; on a focused track of their own. As viewed by their sales team, they are often perceived as "heavy-hitters" and sales leaders because they tend to forge ahead to meet difficult sales challenges with unusual vigor.

The ACTION-oriented style is typical of strong "closers" and those salespeople who are very persistent in scheduling appointments. This ACTION-oriented behavior can be perceived as both pushy and aggressive by both the Cognitive Analysis and Interpersonal Harmony Styles, as they both move forward much more slowly than this style salesperson. Decisive and bold, this Sales Style constantly seeks new or proven ways to speed along the buying process.

The BEHAVIORAL ACTION Sales Style characteristic (by itself, without other style influences) is extroverted and can withstand greater sales-related stress (for instance: high sales quotas) than other styles. They don't tend to use highly creative or "flashy" modes of selling, but prefer planned, proven, and very direct sales methods to achieve previously defined bottom-line sales results.

Cognitive ANALYSIS 45This Sales Style dimension is characterized by a strong tendency to remain in control of the sales situation. Attention to details, precision and correctness, and being on the alert for potential dangers or inconsistencies enable sales people with this style to maintain control of the interview and to avoid rejection. They want to avoid being influenced negatively by other people or by the sales environment. This sales type slowly and methodically focuses on each small detail necessary to complete the sale. They often get caught up in the sales "process" and must be encouraged to move more aggressively towards "completion" of the sale.

People with this Sales Style tend to avoid emotional intensity and unpredictability. They find that gaining trust from others is not easily attained. They may need to offer more friendly, personal contact with prospects and clients to gain some much needed trust. This Sales Style (by itself, without other style influences) is introverted, being more sensitive to actions and words of prospects and fellow workers.

The COGNITIVE ANALYSIS Sales Style does not prefer intuitive or emotional modes of selling, but tends toward logical analysis and exacting precision during sales tasks, with focus and interest on preparing the "perfect presentation". This aim at perfection can reduce the number of presentations made, yet can be particularly effective in technical sales situations.

Interpersonal HARMONY 38This Sales Style dimension is characterized by a strong tendency to adapt to individual prospects and sales situations in order to promote harmony and to provide comfort for everyone involved in the sale. People who are strong in this style dimension feel they must be personally liked and respected by each of their prospects or clients.

The INTERPERSONAL HARMONY Sales Style typically approaches life and people in a practical, friendly, and naturally warm manner. Adaptation to all other styles is a way of life, providing the desired career security and balance needed and preferred by those who score higher in this style dimension.

The INTERPERSONAL HARMONY Sales Style finds it much easier to make friends with prospects than to move ahead assertively to close the sale. They do not like to be perceived as being pushy or aggressive. Their natural tendency to gain a sense of validation and personal approval is achieved by supporting their prospects' desires. Because of this sincere effort, they are often described by prospects as warm and friendly, and service-oriented. This Sales Style (by itself, without other

Affective EXPRESSION 39Sales people with this style have a strong tendency to intuitively explore their prospect's emotions and the sales situation; then intuitively interact with them in order to achieve the desired sales outcome. Spontaneous expression of ideas and feelings mark the natural tendencies of this Sales Style.

People with a natural tendency toward this Sales Style use very creative approaches of speaking, gesturing, or letter writing in their attempts to persuade prospects to buy. They make artistically creative and often very dramatic presentations. They like to quickly sell others on themselves, their ideas, and the products or services which (hopefully) will be helpful and provide solutions to their prospects' problems. They often go out of their way to help prospects because they believe in the value of satisfied clients and their ongoing relationships with them. This Sales Style (by itself, without other style influences) is extroverted, not being easily over-stimulated by their prospects' thoughts or feelings, or by the sales environment. People strong in this style dimension can seem insensitive as they rapidly move ahead of others.

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style influences) is introverted, being more sensitive to the words and actions of prospects. It favors a practical balance of both the logical and intuitive modes of selling; avoiding extremes in behavior. Closing the sale does not come easy for this Sales Style.

The AFFECTIVE EXPRESSION Sales Style generally avoids analytical or technical approaches to selling, but is more intuitive and creative in selling others on taking action. Social interaction and a focus on having a "good time" characterizes this sales style.


STEP TWO

Your Sales Style Graph

Now you have a visual graph that represents your style pattern. Here is what this might mean to you.

Each of us has all four dimensions, in varying intensities.The higher your score in one of the dimensions, the more likely this dimension is influencing the way you perceive, approach, and interact with the sales environment.

The opposite is true for your lower scores. The lower your score in a style dimension, the less likely that dimension is influencing your choices, decision-making, and ability to sell using that dimension.

Behavioral: Cognitive: Interpersonal: Affective:35 45 38 39

Behavioral

Cognitive

Interpersonal

Affective

STEP THREE

Learning about Your General Style Tendencies

There is no right or wrong answer or distribution of numbers. The majority ofindividuals will have two scores above 40 and two scores below 40. Some will have only one score above 40; others will have three scores 40 and above. A small percentage of the population has all four scores within 4 to 5 points.

The combination of your four scores makes up your style pattern. To deepen your understanding of the general style tendencies of each dimension, carefully read the description of each style quadrant below to gain an understanding of the general orientation, typical strengths, and common difficulties of each Sales Style dimension.

We give you permission to personalize this report to your own uniqueness. Ignore the comments that you feel do not apply to you.Identify the statements you feel reflect your Sales Style.


Understanding Your General Sales Style Tendencies

Behavioral ACTION 35 Cognitive ANALYSIS 45

General Orientation:To tasks: wants results nowTo people: seeks authorityTo problems: is tactical and strategicTo stress: doubles effortsTo time: lives in present and future

General Orientation:To tasks: wants quality controlTo people: seeks predictabilityTo problems: analyzes dataTo stress: withdrawsTo time: lives in past and future

Typical Sales Strengths:Acts rapidly to get sales resultsIs inventive and productiveShows endurance under stressIs driven to achieve sales goalsCan take authority boldly

Typical Sales Strengths:Acts cautiously to avoid errorsEngages in critical analysisSeeks to create a low-stress climateCan handle important details wellCan follow directives and standards

Common Sales Difficulties:Can be too forceful or impatientCan often think his/her way is bestCan be insensitive to needs of clientsCan be manipulative or coerciveCan be lonely or stressed

Common Sales Difficulties:Can bog down in details and lose timeCan be too critical or finicky, or controllingCan be overly sensitive to feedbackCan seem to be lacking in courageCan be too self-sufficient, alone

Interpersonal HARMONY 38 Affective EXPRESSION 39

General Orientation:To tasks: is a reliable performerTo people: seeks to help othersTo problems: wants practical solutionsTo stress: adjusts to itTo time: lives in present

General Orientation:To tasks: puts people firstTo people: seeks to influenceTo problems: is intuitive and creativeTo stress: escapes from itTo time: lives in present and future

Typical Sales Strengths:Promotes harmony and balanceIs reliable and consistentTries to adapt to stressSees the obvious that others missIs often easy-going and warm

Typical Sales Strengths:Acts / sells creatively on intuitionIs sensitive to clients ' feelingsIs resilient in times of stressDevelops a network of contacts / leadsIs often willing to help others

Common Sales Difficulties:Can be too easy-going and acceptingCan allow prospects to take advantageCan become bitter if unappreciatedCan be low in self-worth/confidenceCan be reluctant to take risks

Common Sales Difficulties:Can lose track of time and be lateCan overwork and overindulgeCan be too talkativeCan lose objectivity, be emotionalCan be too self-assured


Exercising Caution when Assessing Your Own and Others’ Styles

The following explanation will prepare you to begin reading the many interpretive comments available to you in this section.

We should never pigeonhole individuals or try to stuff someone into a personality “box.” When provided with crisp, neat categories,we have a temptation to use these models as a shortcut for getting to know people. The CRG models were intended to provideclarity and insight about a person’s personality, which is constantly changing, somewhat unpredictable, and often a surprise to evencareful observers.

Some people have said of others, “Oh, he's a Cognitive type” or “She’s an Affective type,” pronouncing clear judgment of anotherperson’s personality. This type of simplistic thinking is to be avoided, especially when you share your style patterns with clients,potential clients, and co-workers.

The Sales Style Indicatoris just that—an indicator, not a test. It is meant to provide a common language to assist you to understand yourself andcommunicate with others regarding the important issue of personal styles.

STEP FOUR

Determining Your Interpretive Summary for Your Style

We will outline the process on how to determine your style pattern(s). As mentioned earlier, the combination of your four scores (patterns) reflects your Sales Style. On the next page are 21 different style patterns. Most of us will have one, perhaps two, or even a maximum of three interpretive summaries with which we best identify.

Let’s determine your Primary Style Pattern for all your scores 40 and above.Because there are special rules for how this is determined, please read the followingbefore going to your Interpretive Summary or Summaries.

Even though the Sales Style Indicator is full of information, significant additional value comes from going through the second booklet, the Sales Style Indicator In-Depth Interpretations. This 48-page booklet contains two pages of detailednarrative about each of the 21 style patterns. It outlines your Sales Style related Strengths, Common Difficulties,Reactions to Stress, Sales Team Functioning and Compatibility with Others, and Leadership Implications; it also offers suggestionsto Increase Your Sales Effectiveness. No sales professional or manager should be without it.

You can also expand on the practical application of the SSI by accessing the Sales Training Program/Process and book, Why Don’tYou Sell The Way That I Buy?TM designed specifically for the SSI. To find out more about this process, please contact the CRGPartner who provided this SSI to you or contact CRG.

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Primary Pattern

C Probing

If anything could go wrong in a sale, you can rely on the probing type to be able to discover thepotential errors. They tend to be bloodhounds who easily detect inconsistencies, holes in saleslogic, errors in financial projections, or flaws in a sales proposal; they just can’t rest until they findthe inconsistencies and correct them

Secondary Pattern

B, C, I & A Synergistic

Synergistic salespeople have an excellent inner resource for developing relationships with people with any style pattern. With equal strength in each of the four dimensions (B, C, I & A), they have the natural ability to perceive the sales environment and connect with other people, regardless of the personal style pattern the other person might have. This allows them to be good salespeople, team players, and negotiators with diverse groups of people. These salespeople have strong flexibility and adaptability that provides them with an advantage in many sales situations. This style pattern allows them to have many interests and to prefer variety in the widest sense of the term. Their drive toward being task-oriented is balanced with their need to have harmony with others. They can be both sales leaders as well as support sales staff; they like working alone as much as with others. They tend to talk and verbally express themselves but can also listen well. They often like to let their actions speak for them. This style pattern lends itself toward support and problem-solving sales situations where the synergistic individual’s widerange of interests and skills can be appreciated and rewarded.


In-Depth Interpretation(s)

Primary PatternC Probing

Strengths If anything could go wrong in a sale, you can rely on the probing type to be able to discover the potential errors. Theytend to be bloodhounds who easily detect inconsistencies, holes in sales logic, errors in financial projections, or flaws in asales proposal; they just can’t rest until they find the inconsistencies and correct them. The probing style of salesperson tends to be masterful at handling a mass of details or developing systems to organize complexinformation and is usually conscientious and patient when it comes to recording and reporting data, for instance, sales callreports and expense reports. It seems that these salespeople’s self-identity and self-worth often rest upon their being rightand accurate in all that they do. If they already have the necessary skills for a sales job, you can likely count on them tobe careful, conscientious, and consistent in their work. They will produce high-quality results that, many times, will becompletely error-free. Time needed for such careful preparation can be costly in a time-sensitive sales situation.Overpreparation can interfere with the need for a consistently high number of sales calls. People with this style are often highly introverted in nature and can pick up on small cues or clues that most people miss in the sales environment. They are careful and critical observers of even subtle events happening around them. They are comfortable being quiet and sitting very still, watching prospects, and waiting. This helps them to have a clear plan in mind before closing the sale. (You can see the image of the watchful cobra: alert, expectant, analyzing the situation for the right and precise moment to strike with deadly accuracy.) Common Areas of Difficulty Individuals with the probing Sales Style are likely to be intolerant of others who interfere, get in the way, or disrupt established sales procedures. Theyalso have difficulty being patient with others who are sloppy and untidy in shared work spaces; they are critical especially of Affective sales types that they see as being overly emotional, easily distracted, and unable to concentrate on the sales task at hand. The probing type of salesperson is likely to have trouble seeing others’ points of view because they have researched their own viewsthoroughly and believe their way is the correct way to think or act. They seem to be either/or thinkers, lacking flexibility orversatility in the way they approach sales situations. Sometimes other salespeople will describe them as beingclosed-minded, stubborn, fault-finding, and dogmatic. If you offer a new sales approach to people with this Sales Style, they are likely to say, “Where has this method been triedbefore?” or “Where is the proof that it will work?” It sometimes doesn’t matter how good a new idea is; they may discountits value simply because it isn’t well established (or just isn’t what they would do). Conservative in approach, they are theaggressive sales manager’s nightmare! They are slower to take new sales approaches than most people. Thorough andtime-consuming, they look at all the angles and often react negatively to any emotionally charged approach to motivatethem to do something new or different. Before making decisions to sell anything new, they most likely will do backgroundreading in consumer magazines or will ask others to provide critical assessments of competing products. They typicallywant just the facts. Emotions are possibly the last thing these people want to be influenced by—especially negativeemotions. Quite often their sales presentations to prospects come across as aloof, matter-of- fact, lukewarm, or pure business. Theyenter into close relationships very slowly and cautiously. They can have particularly high expectations of themselves and of others. This can lead to very frustrating customer relations, especially with prospects who have quite opposite temperaments and attitudes to theirs. Probing salespeople do not find it easy to give praise to others or congratulate them for doing well, often because of a tendency tofocus on what was not achieved or not quite right in their performance. Consequently, the probing salesperson sometimes seems to be a perfectionist who is almost impossible to satisfy. While having high standards can be a strong asset when working alone with complicated problems or preparing sales call reports, it can be a definite handicap when interacting with others, especially if this strength is not consciously controlled and counterbalanced with empathy for the views and feelings of others.

15 of 23Reactions to Stress The predominantly probing type of salesperson tends to become preoccupied, withdrawn, and anxious when things do not go as planned or expectedor when prospects or clients become aggressive. If any policy or rule is being broken, salespeople of this type tend to become overly critical and judgmental of those breaking the regulations. Rule-breakers and policy-benders can cause these probingsalespeople enormous distress, sometimes out of all proportion to the crime committed, especially when the wonderful job they have done in ordering things properly has been distorted, thwarted, or ruined. Since they tend to shrink from conflict, particularly when the situation is fused with strong emotion, the probing salestypes must be careful they don’t becomecarpets for tough prospects to walk on. They can easily get themselves into a fluster trying to keep their offices, files, or even other people in order because of their strong desire to be right, correct, and proper in all that they do. Trying to be less demanding on themselves and others, being less intense, and letting go of the need to achieve perfection every time will help to promote relaxation and to drastically improve human relations at the same time. Some people have strong emotional reactions toward the probingtypes who can make them feel harassed with this constant focus on always getting things done the right way. Sales Team Functioning and Compatibility with Other Styles This highly Cognitive Sales Style tends to become impatient with a team’s or company’s lack of orderly procedures. Theprobing style tends toward less participation on a team because, quite often, other sales team members can be more forceful. A group of probingpeople on the same sales team would be happy to follow strict regulations that governed their behavior together, such as“101 Specific Steps to the Perfect Sale.” The probing sales types can feel more comfortable when working alone or with others who have a similar style. They tend to be lesscomfortable with “know-it- alls” or “motor-mouths” (which is how they often regard the Affective types) and resent the steamrolling, aggressive approach of the Behavioral types. They like the friendliness and support they often can get fromInterpersonal types, except in work situations where the Interpersonal people tend to lose their focus on the sales task at hand and just want to chat. Leadership Implications People with this Sales Style have difficulty assuming leadership positions because of the complexity and unpredictabilityof events that any sales manager will inevitably encounter. They have to stretch their preferred Sales Style pattern toinclude the more risk-taking, social, and expressive aspects inherent in sales-team leadership. They do not actively seekto be at the forefront of what is going on. They rarely want to be in the role of Director of Sales and Marketing or SalesManager if this involves responsibility for motivating salespeople rather than merely having authority over procedures. Ifthey unexpectedly find themselves standing under the spotlight or having leadership thrust upon them, they tend to freezeup, because their standard operating procedures do not work in a constantly changing environment over which they don’thave complete control. They prefer being procedure-checkers and sales-presentations critics to being in charge of peoplein a dynamic environment. To Increase Effectiveness Gaining improved style flexibility while expressing themselves and their feelings should be a priority for probingsalespeople to enhance their emotional and physical health. Taking courses in assertiveness training and stress management, engaging in the creative arts, doing cardiovascular (aerobic) exercise, and talking through problems with a close friend or counselor can all be highly preventative measures against the build-up of stress, and thus be effective methods of improving sales performance and preventing illness. The probing type of salesperson could also benefit from striving for deeper self-awareness of feelings and emotions. Learning to express these feelings to others in a constructive manner, especially in client relationships, could promote personal growth as a human being and help bring clients closer to them. Quite often Probing salespeople are very emotionally sensitive to rejection. The mere suggestion that their sales proposal is being rejected or that they will not receive personal appreciation can be interpreted as personal rejection. Developing closer relationships

16 of 23with others who accept them and can be relied upon will be strengthening for all Cognitive types because receiving personal validation from those they depend on helps them to feel secure, valuable, and worthy. There is clinical evidence that these types of salespeople have more sensitive reticular activation systems (in the brain stem) than any of the other types of salespeople. This could account for their difficulty in handling negative emotions; theydetect them and experience them more acutely than most salespeople. They are often advised by the more Behavioral style of salesperson to stop being so sensitive or are asked, “Why don’t you relax and have fun once in a while?” Comments like these often make probing salespeople burn all the hotter inside because they feel misunderstood or feel their sales efforts are unappreciated. Learning to accept that other people are not as sensitive to (or conscious of) everyday events or personal interactions canassist the Cognitive sales types to build better and longer-lasting relationships and help them be more accepting of their own sensitive naturesand rather fragile egos. Sales Training should focus on increasing sales performance by developing greater personal warmth and sensitivity to the feelings of clients, and being less detail-oriented during presentations. The probing salesperson must learn to focus less on details and specifications and respond with greater flexibility to client-relationship needs and the desired results of buyers.


Secondary PatternB, C, I & A Synergistic

Strengths Synergistic salespeople have an excellent inner resource for developing relationships with people with any style pattern. With equal strength in each of the four dimensions (B, C, I & A), they have the natural ability to perceive the sales environment and connect with other people, regardless of the personal style pattern the other person might have. This allows them to be good salespeople, team players, and negotiators with diverse groups of people. These salespeople have strong flexibility and adaptability that provides them with an advantage in many sales situations. This style pattern allows them to have many interests and to prefer variety in the widest sense of the term. Their drive toward being task-oriented is balanced with their need to have harmony with others. They can be both sales leaders as well as support sales staff; they like working alone as much as with others. They tend to talk and verbally express themselves but can also listen well. They often like to let their actions speak for them. This style pattern lends itself toward support and problem-solving sales situations where the synergistic individual’s wide range of interests and skills can beappreciated and rewarded. Common Areas of Difficulty As is true with all the other Sales Style patterns, self-management is vital to increase effectiveness and communication; this style provides quite a challenge to understand and apply in many sales situations. Because the style dimensions are so equally matched in power, they can tend to cancel each other out. For example, when synergistic salespeople want (or need) to make a decision, the B dimension wants them to make the decision based on B style, while the C, I, and A dimensions also want the decision based on their separate styles. This can pull the individual in different directions, feeling confused, torn, or frustrated. If salespeople with this style are not in control of their pattern, they may also feel very hesitant in making decisions, especially ones in very important areas of their life such as relationships or careers. Internal turmoil and stress could be the direct result of these four dimensions fighting within them to influence life choices. Since each dimension is equally strong, no single one can dominate the others, leaving these salespeople feeling as if they have a split personality. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth; they just need to get the four dimensions to work together as a sales team, rather than letting them fight it out as competitors. Salespeople with this pattern may experience concern about their identity—a strong sense of not really knowing who theyare or their purpose in a sales situation. This sensation occurs because nothing outside of them totally meets the innerneeds they have in all four dimensions. While certain relationships or things meet some of their needs, otherneeds—which are just as important—may go unsatisfied. Once they start to doubt their sales-related choices, that oftenleads to their starting to doubt themselves. Others may have great difficulty understanding these salespeople because of their wide range of preferences and behaviors. While all these characteristics are real, others could perceive them as being contradictory, double-minded, indecisive, confusing, or hard to read. In short, others are never totally sure what these salespeople might do or say. Others might even sometimes consider individuals with this pattern to be wishy-washy in what they say and believe. This can lead to communication breakdowns and conflict in sales relationships. Reactions to Stress While people with this Sales Style pattern have a natural tendency to get along well with others, they also have a natural tendency to not get along well with themselves. The inner dogfight going on among the four dimensions can really take a toll on their nerves if they are not focused on taking charge of this inner conflict. Too often, salespeople who have four fairly equal style dimensions are unable to please any of them, because they are trying too hard to please all of them at the same time. Individuals with this type of style pattern can also find it very stressful when they are in sales situations where someone else, for example, a sales manager, is demanding that they function in a consistent manner for a long period of time. Theirnatural tendencies are to move back and forth among all four dimensions, not to stay put in just one. When they get locked into sales situations where they have to stay in just one strength area for long periods of time, they get bored, frustrated, or stressed. They love variety and change in the sales setting.

18 of 23While sometimes these types of salespeople work well under stress, there are also other times when they can overreactto stress. This contradiction can undermine others’ confidence in their ability to cope consistently under pressure. It canhurt their reputation for being reliable when the stress increases beyond normal day-to-day conditions. To offset this,courses on how to manage inner conflicts and the contradictory demands of the four style dimensions are recommended.

Sales Team Functioning and Compatibility with Other Styles Generally, this Sales Style pattern functions well with others in sales and team settings. Their natural style-shiftingtendencies work well with those who have patterns that lack the flexibility of this pattern. Quick comprehension of others’points of view can make people with this pattern valuable sales team members. They have a strong balance betweenbeing task-oriented and people-oriented and can get along well with others while getting things done. They also have anatural empathy for other style patterns because their strong scores in all four patterns helps synergistic salespeopleidentify with others’ style patterns. The wide range of style dimension strengths allows this salesperson to connect with many individuals in different areas of compatibility. This individual has a component that can communicate with people where they live while also expressing his or her interests, ideas, likes and dislikes in a clear way. The natural balance between being verbal and non-verbal is a strong asset to any sales team. Leadership Implications This Sales Style pattern has excellent potential for sales leadership positions because of a balance among the tendenciesof each of the four dimensions. The Behavioraldimension gives this salesperson a strong tendency to be extroverted and task-oriented. It also provides the salesperson with a strong need for goal setting and action planning, along with a natural drive to be in control of sales situations. The strong Cognitivedimension also allows the individual to be task-oriented with the advantage of being mentally and verbally focused on quality. It lends itself to problem solving and enhancing systems for continuous improvement. On the people-side of the sales leadership continuum, the Interpersonal dimension gives these salespeople theadvantage of being able to be sensitive to others. It also allows them to serve, as well as to lead others. Salespeople withthis pattern are willing to seek out others’ opinions and to listen to what they have to say. They are real sales-teamplayers and tend not to dominate. The Affectivedimension allows them to be fun, creative, and spontaneous. These characteristics soften the task side so that othersdon’t think they are all work and no play. Generally, salespeople with this pattern have good speaking abilities over the phone and in front of others, including groups of people they may or may not know. Their success as sales leaders will greatly depend on how they take charge of their inner self, the four style dimensions, and the way they learn how to use them to help others accomplish sales tasks and build sales relationships. To Increase Effectiveness The real key to increasing effectiveness is to take charge of their Sales Style pattern. While this is obvious—and true forall of the style patterns—it is especially true of this one. The natural balance among all four Sales Style dimensions willeither make or break this person in his or her sales relationships. Sales Training should focus on self-management and decision-making, so that the synergistic person becomes capableof making a clear and focused presentation and avoids confusing the client (with too many options). The synergistic person should build strong client rapport, become disciplined and systematic in following a consultative sales process, and create a structured and professional follow-through.


STEP FIVE

Developing Style-Flexibility and Increasing Your Sales Success

To be successful, most businesses will benefit from all the Sales Styles, at various levels. You can now use the powerful information found in the SSI toestablish your winning sales process and sales team. If you are in a sales positionor your responsibilities are clashing with your natural Sales Style, we know that, over time, that will be stressful; it will effectively lower your success level and maybe even result in failure. This is a critical concept that every salesmanager/leader must and should implement when building and coaching asuccessful sales team.

Sales success is highly influenced by your ability to meet your clients’ and buyers’ styles, not yours. After you are able to recognizeBehavioral style patterns in your own and others' behaviors, you will be better prepared to develop your sales awareness,approach, and versatility. Each of us already has a capacity for a certain amount of flexible behavior toward another person,depending on the needs of the moment. The further development of your awareness of self and others will allow you greaterfreedom to be more intentional and conscious in your dealings with others, for your benefit and theirs.

Having determined your Sales Style pattern from the preceding section, you should now read the specially developed SSI In-Depth Interpretations that correspond to the pattern or patterns that come closest to yours. This will give you further insight into the nature of your Sales Style and some specific strategies for your increased success. You will also discover practical suggestions for developing your sales prowess and professional effectiveness.

Style-Matching to Avoid Style-Clashing

We can clash with others simply by virtue of our natures. People naturally get along with some people better than others. Those clients, prospects, and co-workers with whom we have style-clashes can be respected and valued more if we are willing and able toshift into behavioral patterns in which they are more comfortable.

This is not to say we should stop being ourselves, but we can learn to be ourselves in ways that are more effective in adapting toothers' styles. If we can only sell or be with people who are “like us,” we will immediately put our sales success and potential at risk.

20 of 23Style-Shifting Guidelines

The diagram below illustrates the five steps for effective style-shifting. On the following page, you will find guidelines to assist you tobe more aware of how you might behave differently with various types of buyers/clients who, in some situations, exhibit and prefer types of behavior diverse from yours.

Note: Even though Style-Shifting is an effective process, it is only one part of sales success. The SSI is a very powerful tool, especially when used as part of an overall sales strategy and system. In most cases, it produces dramatically increased sales results.


Sales Professionals' Style-Shifting GuidelinesIn the four style boxes below, you may wish to note the names of clients, prospects, or co-workers with whom you wish to style-shift.

Behavioral ACTION 35 Cognitive ANALYSIS 45Want sales people to:Give them summarized facts and the big pictureRespect their judgmentsSupport them to reach specific goalsCope with unwanted detailsCooperate fully with them

Want sales people to:Give them detailed information and specsAsk for their opinionsTreat them with respectDo quality work the first timeNot interrupt their work

Get most upset when sales people:Are too slow in making process/presentationGet in their way of progress or goalsTalk too muchTry to be in controlWaste their time

Get most upset when sales people:Move ahead too quicklyDon't give them enough timeAre vague in their communications/answersConfuse them with too many choicesAre too personal or emotional

Respond best to:Direct and honest sales presentationsLogical, presentations; alternate choicesFair, open communicationAn impersonal approachGetting bottom-line results quickly

Respond best to:Diplomacy; facts, challengesPresentations based on factsFreedom from immediate sales pressureFriendliness, not personal contactComplete and thorough service

Interpersonal HARMONY 38 Affective EXPRESSION 39Want sales people to:Make them feel important and effectiveBe patient through the sales processBe kind, considerate, thoughtfulTrust them with important decisionsValue them as individuals

Want sales people to:Listen; give them opportunity to speakAdmire their achievementsBe influenced by them in some waysTake care of details for themValue their opinions; offer alternatives

Get most upset when sales people:Get angry, blow up, or are meanDemand that they decide quickly; apply pressureTake advantage of their goodnessAre manipulative or unfairAre judgmental of them or others

Get most upset when sales people:Are too sales -task -oriented (closing)Confine them to limited selectionAre not interested in them personallyCompete for and win others' attentionSeem judgmental; talk down to them

Respond best to:A gradual approach to closingA factual, practical approachComfortable, friendly sales interviewsRespecting their established boundariesConventional, established ways

Respond best to:Being challenged in some wayA dynamic, persuasive sales approachTestimonials of admired business leadersGenuine caring and personal contactHaving a good time and fun

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Online Sales Style Indicator (SSI) (c) 1990-2008 Consulting Resource Group

STEP SIX

Designing Your Plan To Increase Your Sales Effectiveness

The outline below provides you with an opportunity to briefly summarize what you have learned about yourself through the Sales Style Indicator. Enter your responses in the sections below. Remember to save your responses.

The Main Strengths of My Sales Style:

The Main Difficulties of My Sales Style:

What I Could Do to Become More Flexible in My Selling Style:

Behaviors I Would Like to Have More Control Over:

What I Could Do to Be More Effective with Certain Buying Styles:

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